3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Market and socio-psychological factors affecting organic food purchase decision and post-purchase outcomes in South Africa(2018) Chauke, Xitshembhiso DifferenceOrganic food consumption is an aspect of green consumption which is increasingly making inroads into consumers’ consumption patterns across the globe, especiallyin Europe and North America. In South Africa, the growth is slow, both in supply and demand. Even though mainly sold in specialised markets, such as the Bryanston organic food market in Johannesburg, retail chains, such as Pick’n Pay, Shorprite-Checkers and Woolworths are getting into the organic food market, selling items, such as vegetables, herbs, grains and oil seeds, fruits and dairy products. The consumers are reportedly mainly medical patients, middle to upper income consumers, the “younger” consumer generation, who shop in the upmarket food stores and parents of younger children. Research has been conducted to understand the drivers of organic food purchase by employing various models and theories across the globe. For example, Aertsens, Verbeke, Mondelaers and Van Huylenbroeck’s (2009) untested model linked Schwartz’ values theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to propose personal factors affecting organic food purchase intention and behaviour. Even though the study combined two theories to suggest drivers of organic food purchase intention and behaviour, mainly psychological drivers were suggested. In addition to this limited focus, the study does not consider the resultant pleasure or satisfaction that consumers may get from purchasing and consuming a more natural and environmentally friendly food, which the Biophilia hypothesis theory suggests. More so, there are suggestions that external factors, such as marketing, economic, governmental and social factors can influence organic food purchase. The explanatory powers of some of these factors (e.g., social factors) have either not been empirically tested, or the studies of their impact are fragmented and lack integration. The fragmented studies in some cases provide contradictory findings. Studies show that when consumers purchase green products and are satisfied with their decision, their overall image of the products improves and leads to positive outcomes, such as positive word of mouth communication, repurchase intentions and the willingness to pay a high price iii associated with green products. Whether these will be the case for organic food in South Africa is one of the objectives of this study.To answer this question, and for better comprehension of the drivers of organic food purchase and post-purchase outcomes, ideas from the Biophilia Theory, Aertsens et al.’s (2009) adapted TPB and Yiridoe et al.’s (2005) model that suggests external drivers are integrated into a conceptual model in this study. This is to understand the impact of marketing, psychological and social factors on organic food purchase decision, satisfaction and three post-purchase outcomes (word of mouth communication, repurchase intentions and willingness to pay price premium). A survey of 611 South African organic food consumers in the cultural and socio-economically rich and diverse Gauteng province of South Africa, the proposed conceptual model with fourteen hypotheses (H1 – H14) were quantitatively tested using Partial Least Square (PLS) structural equation modelling.The results revealed that market factors (i.e., price, distribution and communication), even though they made no significant impact, explained 04% of organic food purchase decision. With an explanatory power of 53%, the psychological factors (perception of product attributes, environmental attitude, behavioural beliefs, perceived value and overall image) were found to havestrong impact on the purchase decision. Out of these psychological factors, only environmental attitude did not make a significant impact. Social factors explained 16% of organic food purchase decision, with family influence making a significant impact. While the purchase decision explained 66% of organic food consumption satisfaction, the satisfaction in turn had an explanatory power of 74%, 63% and 62% of repurchase intention, word of mouth and willingness to pay a price premium respectively. This study’s tested conceptual model of organic food purchase decision, satisfaction and postpurchase outcomes in an economically and socio-culturally diverse country such as South Africa, makes important theoretical and practical contributions. For example, it provides a comprehensive conceptual model, which can be used to understand other green consumption behaviour, not only in South Africa, but in other countries. It also reveals that marketers are ineffective in promoting, distributing and pricing organic food products. Further studies should be conducted in other South African provinces and should consider product related, economic and governmental factors helping and hindering organic food purchase and consumption.